Suffer in Silence
by Tih190
Summary: Nathan is a 12 year old who interns at Overwatch. He loves working there, but at home its different. He suffers but he keeps it quiet and hides it. Hiding it from international peacekeepers from military or scientific backgrounds just makes it harder. So what happens when someone finds out? A/N: Includes OC, Rated T for blood, violence, and language. Takes place after Uprising.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: HERE'S THE SIDE STORY I'M MAKING TO KEEP YOU GUYS OCCUPIED WHILE IM WRITING THE SPIDEY/LIFE IS STRANGE STORY. IT'S AN OVERWATCH STORY WHICH I'VE BEEN MEANING TO DO FOR SOME TIME, IT TAKES PLACE 6 YEARS BEFORE THE MAIN GAME. I'VE BEEN TRYING TO KEEP IN LINE WITH THE SO FAR CONFIRMED CANON OF OVERWATCH. ENJOY!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN OVERWATCH, BLIZZARD DOES; THIS APPLIES TO THE REST OF THE STORY.**

 **Chapter 1**

Location: New York City

The fires were raging in front of him, as it burned the entire vehicle and with it the bodies of his parents, he couldn't move however, and there was no one at the scene, only him. He could only watch and cry as his parents burn to ashes. But as he looks at the ground, he sees it darkening. He looks up to see that the fire is gone; there was no car anymore and the city had become deathly quiet. He's scared now; he can fill the chill down his spine, he looks around only to see two people, his parents. He's smiles for a brief moment only to stop when he sees their expressions. Both of them look at him in disgust, and anger.

"Look at you, nothing but a pathetic waste of trash!" The mother says

"I agree, he's been nothing but trouble, unwanted and a waste of money, It's your fault _son_ that we're dead, YOUR FAULT!" The father ends with venom laced in his voice

The boy starts crying at the word being thrown at him by his parents. He tries to speak but he realizes he can't. That doesn't stop the father from continuing

"IT YOUR FAULT WE'RE DEAD YOU NO GOOD BRAT! AFTER EVERYTHING WE'VE DONE FOR YOU, THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US!?" The mother maliciously yells.

"BECAUSE OF YOU WE WILL NEVER BE HAPPY, NEVER!" The father says as the fires appear on his face and melts off his skin to reveal nothing but charred flesh. The same happens to the mother as they grab his face which begins to burn finally prompting him to let out a terrible blood curdling scream.

Location: Switzerland

"AAAAAAHHH" Nate screams as he wakes up from another nightmare, his face drips with sweat as he struggles to catch his breath. His hair covers his eyes but it does little to cover the tears. After he composes himself, he puts his knees against his chest and looks out at the window. It's snowing outside, he could see the thick sheet of snow cover the entire forest outside as the small rays of light seep into his room, brightening only his bed and leaving the rest of his room dim, empty, and lonely just like the outside.

Recognizing that no one has barged into his room specifically _him_ , Nate realizes on the spot that today must be Friday, the only day where the man he's supposed to call his foster dad is at work early and won't be back until past midnight. Nate sighs in relief as he gets up from bed and goes to freshen up. He washes his face in the bathroom and then stares at himself in the mirror for a few minutes. He acknowledges the fact that while he has short black hair and light skin tone, it's unhealthily pale and he is thin to the point where he is barely healthy. Not to mention he's very short for a 12 year old. His eyes are dark brown, but they only show a tired expression.

A few minutes, he eats some cereal, not a big portion but just enough, he wouldn't dare eat excessively. He washes his bowl and puts it in the dishwasher just as it is expected. He goes back up to his room in order to get ready for the day. He pulls out warm clothes such as a sweatshirt and some insulated long johns for his legs, which he wears under his jeans. He then pulls out his name tag stating his name and the Overwatch logo on top.

As he goes walks to HQ he thinks about the one good thing he had right now in his life, it was the internship at Overwatch. While he never really spoke with other people, he was silently proud of such an achievement. Winston, this really intelligent sentient gorilla was the one that supervised the program since he himself proposed it on his first day. He doesn't talk to him much, only when he needs to. There were only 2 others interns who sound nice and all but he can't really muster up any courage to begin a conversation for his own reasons. The other members he has seen around here and there, but has never said a word to them ever since he had begun his internship weeks ago. He was okay with that though, it's Overwatch, and they're obviously busy people, dealing with both conflicts and crises overseas or the political world.

As far as he could only remember, he had talked to only 2 members, Winston who runs and supervises the program and Tracer; she's a recent addition to the team since the Null Sector uprising in King's Row last year. But the only time she ever spoke to him was when she said hi, and that was just in a hallway at HQ 6 weeks ago. He catches glimpses of her every now and then, but he's sure that she's constantly busy with missions and she never stops by to talk to him anyway. Who would ever have time for someone like himself? Everything is in constant motion, either you keep up with the others or you get left behind and no one will ever pick you up.

 _LATER_

"Ah, good morning Nathan" Winston greeted as he saw the young intern come in with his lab coat

"Morning, Mr. Winston" Nathan softly relied with a soft smile

"Nathan, you're more than welcome to just call me Winston, there's no crime in that" Winston lightly lectured, it's been a few weeks now and Winston didn't really feel a need to be addressed formally. The other two older interns got used to calling him Winston but Nathan who was the youngest at 12 just kept addressing him in a formal manner. Probably because he's a young kid who's trying be respectful.

"I guess but isn't that inappropriate and against work ethic?" Nathan asks, his voice is soft and timid. He was always the most silent of the three.

Winston inwardly chuckles to himself; this boy is too respectful.

"Well, while you must address Commander Morrison or Commander Reyes by their rank. I don't have a problem with you calling me by my name only. Ok?"

"Y-yes sir." Nathan replies

Winston inwardly groaned, this kid is way too respectful.

"Let's continue off from yesterday. We were about to look at the cell's growth after the exposure to the chemical mixture."

"So we could see if it could accelerate the number of cell growth at a rapid but healthy rate without negatively affecting the genetic makeup or the DNA coding sequence." Nathan said in a soft manner with a hint of enthusiasm slipping out

"Correct"

"Ok" Nathan timidly said

Winston had a datapad out recording observations done by Nathan; this was something the interns would work on as part of a hands on 'lesson' as Winston calls it. Each intern worked with Winston as he applied a chemical mixture to some healthy animal cells on a Petri dish and then they would observe the results and come up with a conclusion.

It was pretty much a basic scientific method lesson. Winston had come up with this some time ago and merely decided to use this as a way to teach the interns. While the other two were looking forward to some hands on research, he had the idea that Nathan was the most enthusiastic, but he did a good job at suppressing it.

"What do you notice about the cells?"

"They look healthy, I see no altered appearance in the cells physical appearance, and the genetic makeup looks fine." Nathan says

"Anything else?"

"The cell's DNA sequences are the same as it was in the start and the microscope is showing that the rate of reproduction is still the same. Pretty much nothing in the mixture has affected it"

"Are you certain? Be sure to take another look to see if you miss anything." Winston says with a slight smile

As Nathan looks into the microscope, Winston gives a small lecture

"Remember that a science experiment is always carried out with a large amount of observation, even the tiniest things can make a big impact on research. Sometimes you'll have to look back repeatedly to see if you missed anything."

"There seems to be nothing different with the cells. It's the same as it was in the beginning of the week." Nathan concludes

"And how do you think this happened?"

Nathan takes a moment to answer Winston's question, the cells are normal and nothing was wrong.

"Can I see the mixture we used?" Nathan asked

This caught Winston's attention but he consented and gave the young boy the vial that contained the mixture. It was colorless and nothing was in it. Nathan looked at for a moment before opening it up and taking in the scent. This cocked Winston's eyebrows, and then Nathan drank the entire thing down, shocking Winston.

"Nathan, what are..."

"Just as I thought, it's just water." Nathan said with certainty

Winston stopped and gave a smile "Go on"

"The cells aren't animal cells, they're plant cells because of their cell walls, when we gave them water there was no reaction because it is simply used to continue proper life functions including diffusion. If they were animal cells, they would have already burst by now." Nathan concludes with a smile

Winston chuckles, he is a bit astonished that this boy dared to drink the water, Water was also used for the 2 interns but they assumed it was a mixture and came up with their own reasonable conclusions. But Nathan was the one who discovered the truth through actually drinking it.

"Correct indeed, Nathan. I'm a little impressed, most people would assume that was a mixture, how did you see past through my little trick though?"

"Well, it was colorless for starters, even though a lot of harmful chemicals are colorless, you would've made us put up an effort for safety which you didn't. Then the cells didn't have a negative reaction, they were healthy. Not to mention you always indentify the chemicals we're using on the beakers. But this time you didn't which meant that it was not even dangerous. So I guess I kinda had an idea that it was just a test of some sort" Nathan said with rising enthusiasm

Winston was astonished; he was able to identify the trick through differences in routine and observation in research. He was observational indeed; perhaps he should work with Angela sometime.

Winston made another chuckle "Ok, you got me. It was a little parlor trick all along, really designed to test your observation and reinforce it with your reasoning. While the point wasn't to uncover the fact that it was all a trick, I am genuinely impressed that you uncovered it. A fine job indeed" The gorilla stated.

Nathan gave a little smile and a small thank you, but inside him he lit up, he became so and astonished that someone gave him a compliment.

"You know, after 6 weeks here, you didn't really get to talk to other people much. I didn't mean for it to be a little solitary here." Nathan could see where he was going with this.

"It's alright, I-I j-just like to fo-focus on my work is all. Be-besides the rest of your team are re-really busy people anyway. I'm fine just ta-talking to the other interns and you." Nathan said, silently cursing himself for stuttering.

Winston raises an eyebrow at that stutter he did, Nathan doesn't notice it though and Winston puts it aside for now.

"You have a good work ethic Nathan, along with impressive observational skills. But I don't want you to feel alone in Overwatch, you should have a chance to get to know the other members of the team especially your two fellow interns. So you and the other two are all going to meet them Monday when you come in." Winston said with a smile.

"Oh, that's alright, you don't have to bring them here just so they could meet us" Nathan says

"Actually, it was Commander Morrison who decided for the team to come meet you three, they are all looking forward to meeting you and I thought it'd be nice for the three of you to establish a connection with the team. Besides all of them are coming back from a 4 week mission anyway so thought it would be nice for a change."

"Oh, really? That's great Mr. Winston" Nathan softly said as his heart rate sped up in a hint of excitement.

Winston decided to let the formality pass this time "Trust me, give it a short while and it'll be like having a second family." Nathan gave a slight wince at that which Winston didn't notice.

Winston looked at the time on his clock "Oh! Look at the time, it looks like we'll have to cut this short today, you're free to go Nathan." Winston said as he starts rushing to gather some stuff

"A-already?" Nathan asks

"I'm afraid so, I have some other things to do today that must be taken care of, so I'll see you here again Monday at 12:00 although I recommend coming 20-30 minutes early. Don't worry about the lab; I'll turn it off myself. That's all, have a good weekend." Winston ends in a friendly manner as he leaves in a hurry.

Nathan waved goodbye as he left the lab, went to the locker room to grab his stuff and go home. While he didn't expect today to end early and make him deviate from the routine, he isn't worried since today is the only day where he comes home late, by that time he'll already be asleep in his room after preparing everything for _him_.

As he treads through the blanket of snow, he calls himself a dumbass for stuttering in front of Winston of all people, the man… _well_ Gorilla is super intelligent and was educated by scientists on the freaking Moon, and now he's probably suspicious already. Hopefully, he'll last for the rest of the internship and then after that, he, along with the other Interns, will be assigned a fully fledged position within Overwatch, working alongside actual members that help make the world a better place. He'll be working away from _him_ and nothing can stop that.

As he reaches the front doorstep of the house, he takes out his house keys and unlocks the door. He opens it to find himself in the shadow of tall but thin figure, he looks up to see the angry face of _him,_ his foster father Henry.

"Good afternoon brat, I'm glad to see you got home early too." Henry says as his voice is laced with venom

Nathan looks up in total fear, this was not supposed to happen, he shouldn't be home this early at all.

"B-b-but aren't yo-you working today?" His heart beats faster now, and he feels the fear filling up in his stomach

"I got off early today, but what do I come home to? A FUCKING PIGSTY!" Henry yells as he violently grabs Nathan's hair as he yells in pain, he kicks the door shut and he then backhands Nathan in the face causing a bit of blood to come out.

"You _ungrateful brat!_ How dare you forget to clean this place up!" Henry yells as he grabs Nathan by his coat and throws him against the wall, where he starts punching him in both his face and his stomach

One punch

"I take you in"

Another Punch

"I give you food and clothes"

Another punch

"I give you a home."

Another Punch

"I give you all that you need"

Another punch

"AND THIS IS HOW YOU FUCKING REPAY ME?"

Henry gives a final punch to Nathan's face, leaving him bruised with a black eye and a bloody nose, while the tears of his pain come down his face as he struggles to breathe whilst suffering from the newly given bruises on his stomach.

"Ple-please _sniff_ I'm so sorry _sniff_ it wo-won't happen again, just no mo-more ple-please _sniff sniff_ " Nathan pleads, but Henry is still unfazed and enraged.

Henry uses his foot to then move Nathan's body straight to the floor and then proceeds to stomp on his body. As he does so, he says "It won't happen again huh, that s what you said last time but you did it anyway you little shit. Don't think you can escape this, this is WHAT YOU DESERVE! YOU HAVE TO BE DISCIPLINED IF YOU'RE GONNA STAY HERE." Henry angrily says.

Nathan puts himself into fetal position to protect himself but it doesn't work much. Henry continues stomping for another second before he stops to catch his breath. He then looks at Nathan who has been turned into a sobbing bloody mess with hateful eyes and then drags him outside to the backyard by his hair, he opens a small wooden shed and he throws Nathan in after ripping off his coat.

"You're staying in there again until Saturday, you'll get some ice for that face but don't even hope for any food or water for the rest of the day. Remember, you're the reason why this happened to you." Henry says, he then slams the shed door shut, leaving Nathan to sob alone in the cold comfort of nothingness.

 **A/N: Well how is it? Yeah, Henry is an asshole that's begging for a death sentence. Don't worry he'll get what's coming to him. Also, the other Overwatch members including Ana and Reyes will be present for this story but no Moira or Widowmaker. Things will pick up in the second chapter. Please Review this chapter, your feedback is appreciated.**


	2. Authors Note on Chapter 2

**AUTHORS NOTE: HI GUYS, . CHAPTER 2 OF "SUFFER IN SILENCE" IS ALMOST DONE; HOWEVER PROGRESS IS A BIT SLOW DUE TO SOME OTHER STUFF I HAVE TO WORK ON. HOWEVER, I'M ALMOST DONE AND IT WILL BE UPLOADED SOON. THANK YOU ALL FOR WAITING.**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok here's the second chapter, I'd like to thank you all on reviewing my first chapter for this story, I've seen your feedback, and I'd like to clear some things.**

 **The Science Thing, yyeaaahhhh, that wasn't on purpose, I was trying to come up with advanced made up sci-fi type of stuff, but it really didn't click right when I was writing it. I put that 9** **th** **gradeish stuff in that section because it wasn't really a priority to include science. So I just put that in there.**

 **The Overwatch team as we know it (minus Mei and Liao), will be in there, including both Morrison and Reyes. Since this story is 6 years before the game they're not enemies yet.**

 **That's all, I'm keeping spoilers on the low, I appreciate you guys reading this story, I'm glad you like it. Enjoy and please review.**

 _FLASHBACK_

 _ **Location: New York City**_

 _7 year old Nate was lying face down on his bed looking away from his door. He had a look of confusion and frustration because of the words that came from his parents hours ago. A reminder, that the world could be so unfair. A reminder of the one word that easily complicates a child life_

 _Divorce_

 _His parents were getting a divorce; they weren't going to stay together anymore. Unlike many young kids, Nate was very intelligent for his age. He knew the meanings of many words before he turned 5. Divorce was among them, but it doesn't prepare him for the emotional turmoil_ he's _going through._

 _Why were they divorcing, is it because they were constantly fighting about everything, is it because of him or something else. He probably might not know, but one thing's for certain, he could only choose one person to stay with, that's either his mom or his dad. That is completely unfair, he wishes they could just stay together and make up. He wishes they could stop fighting and love each other again._

 _As he thinks to himself, his door opens to reveal his father, a man in his 30s with black hair with a tired but kind expression as he looks at his son lying in bed. He softly walks to the side and sits down._

" _I know you're awake Nathan, I know that you obviously don't like that me and mommy aren't going to be together anymore."_

 _Nate keeps his eyes closed to feign sleep, but it's futile at best_

 _His father continues "Don't ever think that this is because of you. This is not your fault; this is never your fault. It's just that mommy and daddy cannot get along together anymore, because it would hurt you so much more if we were still together. You still get to see me and mommy, because no matter what, we love you more than life itself. But I can't live with your mommy anymore, it wouldn't work. I know this is unfair, I don't want it to end like this but one day; I think you'll understand why we have to do this. Ok?"_

 _Nate continues to feign sleep but he acknowledges his dad in silence, but it's still unfair. He just hopes that things will get better eventually._

" _Well, I'm gonna go to sleep now, goodnight ok?"_

 _His father leaves the room and closes the door. Leaving Nate to sleep as everything comes to black._

 _ **NOW**_

 _ **Location: Switzerland**_

It was Monday morning. Nate woke up in total pain despite having the weekend to recover. He could only just lie down and reflect on what happened. Friday he was beaten to a bloody mess and left punished to the shed. He remembered freezing in that shed, the wooden walls doing very little to provide warmth, the cold winds only added salt to the wounds. It was agony, and it left Nate in tears as he begged for the pain to subside which didn't really happen. He was like that for the rest of Friday, never having a chance to sleep because of the pain. When Saturday came, it wasn't until the afternoon that Henry opened the shed. He briefly acknowledged the bloody mess that was supposed to be his foster son and dragged him by his shirt back into the house. He then threw him in his room, making Nate wince in pain from his bruises and then Henry threw a bag of ice, a bag with 4 slices of bread, and a small water bottle.

 _"Brat, make these last, make sure you're up to do your work tomorrow, I expect everything done when I get back by 10:00. If you don't, well…" Henry said without any compassion_

 _As he leaves the room, he says one more thing, "Remember, you deserved to be punished, you're nothing but a little shit that makes it hard for everyone else. Be grateful that you even have a place like this, even though you should be rotting with the rest of the filth." He then slams the door shut, leaving Nate in more pain than ever and in tears._

Sunday, the bruises hadn't faded other than the one on his face, but it was barely visible. Waking and moving his limbs were agony, but he can't complain, he should be grateful that Henry had given him some supplies so he wouldn't starve. He should be grateful that he wasn't in an orphanage. He spent the rest of the day cleaning the house and cooking dinner for when Henry gets back, despite being in utter pain. After Henry came, he was satisfied enough with everything that he just told Nate to get lost. But it wasn't a good night for Nathan then, the bruises started to act up again and it took hours until he was able to sleep.

Monday, Nate tries not to depress himself even though no one would be surprised given hid situation, but what could he do. No one would believe him anyway.

After lying on the bed for a few minutes, he gets up while wincing in pain from the bruises and gets himself ready for the day. He makes sure to put on clothes that can fully cover his bruises without looking suspicious. After he does that, he washes his face in the bathroom in order to give himself a cleaner appearance. Once that is taken care of, he goes down the stairs looking to his left and right to see if Henry is inside, only to see him sleeping on the couch. Nate had already made him food in advance the night before, and assumes that he ate it as he sees an empty plate with crumbs on the table.

He opens the door and goes outside, beginning his walk to the Swiss HQ.

As he treads through the snow he begins to have some excitement and dread. Excitement because today is the day he meets the Overwatch team as Winston said he would. He would also meet the other 2 interns as well since he never got a good chance to talk to them. The thing that he dreads however is that one of them figures out what's going on at home. If that happens, the one thing he's got going good will be ripped away from him. He hates what Henry does to him so much, it hurts a lot trying to live with the physical pain, but it hurts even more inside due to bottling up every emotion and from the verbal and emotional abuse he receives. But, if he can make it, he won't have to worry anymore.

Nate makes it to the base, _'thank god_ ' he thinks to himself, the cold was starting to make his bruises act up. He goes in through one of the entrances on the side since that's the one quicker to the locker room. He goes in and heads down to put his stuff inside his locker as he gets his lab coat. As he puts it on, he winces in pain, a reminder that the bruises are still there.

Nate reminds himself to be careful with his sudden movements, anything could give himself away. He then exits the locker room, where he usually meets with Winston in his lab. However, as he enters, the lab is empty with no one inside. He then looks at the time on the clock.

 _11:59_

 _Its only one more minute, but I'm supposed to meet Mr. Winston here. Where is he?_

"There you are!" Winston says as goes into the room and greets Nathan.

"What took you so long? I was beginning to think you weren't coming" Winston said

"S-sorry, There was a lot of snow on my way here" Nate said

"Come on everyone else is nearby." Winston then guides the young boy through the hallway to the room where the team and the two interns were in. Winston looks at Nate, he briefly reminisces on the past few weeks since he joined. He was surprised when he saw how young he was, but he was impressed by his intelligence. He understood some of the theories behind the most advanced scientific concepts that were not possible without Overwatch, like the chronal accelerator and Angela's medical tech. He also saw that the boy had a talent for biology and some of its interdisciplinary fields like chemistry and genetics but Nate suppresses that in himself. Why? Winston thought it was because he was young and shy around such prominent people including himself, but that wouldn't be the case considering he hasn't even met the rest of the team yet.

Winston knew that there was confidence in the boy when it came to research, if Friday was not evidence of that then what else, but then when he brought up the fact that Nate mostly worked alone or alongside him, he stuttered and reverted back to being timid, as if it was a shell. Perhaps meeting the team and his fellow interns would allow him to open up a bit and become more confident. Most if not all the team members (McCree does not seem to be fond of children if they 'irritate' him) saw this as a way of reeling back from the string of missions they had and the recent political strife that they were facing from both the UN and some of the governments. Plus, Winston was intrigued; in the days before he saw sides to some people he didn't know they had.

Winston brief takes a glimpse of Nathan; he notices that he's silent and somewhat pale. He was nervous, _too_ nervous. Winston knew he was shy but to what extent?

"Nathan, are you ok? You look pale." Winston asks, he sees Nathan tense up a bit as if he got shocked.

"I'm fine, Mr. Winston, I'm just…"

"Nervous about meeting them?" Winston finishes to which Nathan nods

Winston gives a reassuring smile "I want you to take a few deep breaths, do it slowly as well" Nate does as he says and Winston sees color returning to his face as well as his body relaxing more.

"You don't need to worry about anything; these are all good people who want to meet you guys. I understand that you don't know what it's going to be like when you first meet them, I didn't. But then when I did, I realized something important, they're just people like you and I, with friends and family and commitments and responsibilities. At the end of the day, they will just get together, talk and laugh like friends and families do, and soon I became part of that family." Winston says as he speaks from firsthand experience.

Nate looks up and absorbs his words, he doesn't know how but Winston's words made him smile and relaxed his mind. He felt an inner warmth through his body and he felt as if it got rid of the pain, Nate gave a smile at Winston to which Winston acknowledged. Winston stopped in front of a door and gave a nod in its direction.

"This is where they are, ready?" Winston asks

Nate gives a small nod, this is it, his heart beats heavily with anticipation and while he tries not to show it, he is excited, for the first time in many years he is excited.

The door opens up to a moderately big room with some furniture and in front of the two are a group of people, all with faces that are all too familiar. They are talking and laughing with each other and with two younger teenagers. Both are wearing lab coats with one being a red haired girl and one is a boy with brown hair. At first they are all oblivious to the presence of the two until a man with tan skin and some armor on his legs sees them. Nate knows who he is very well from the internet and TV as one of the founding members and first commander of Overwatch.

 _Gabriel Reyes_

"Monkey! About time, you should give more attention to your protégés." He said in a light banter

"Sorry, I was waiting for our 3rd member here. And don't call me Monkey" Winston said as he points down to Nate who looks up

"So, this is our number 3 here. He's a bit small isn't he?" Gabe says as he looks at Nate with a smile. His own way of saying _pleasure to meet you_

"He is short and young, but he makes up for that in his intelligence." Winston responds

"Of course you like him because he's a brainiac." Gabe says he looks at Nate again and kneels down "Pleasure meeting you kid, names Gaberiel Reyes." Gabe shakes hands with him

"Nathan Beckett, Nice to meet you Commander." Nathan politely says, still in awe.

"Polite one isn't he?" Gabe softly says to Winston.

"You have no idea." Winston responds

"Hey Jack get over here! Monkey here has brought in another." Gabe says to a visibly older man with a firm but friendly face with whitening hair and a blue Overwatch coat with matching armor. Winston groans in response to Gabe's nickname. Nate also quickly identifies him as the current commander and co-founder of Overwatch Jack Morrison.

"I see Winston has brought in our last intern, nice to finally meet you son, what's your name?" Jack says as he shakes hands with Nate who seems awestruck

"Nathan Beckett Commander"

"Well, Nathan I'm Jack, Winston has told us much about you and the others; you're quite intelligent for your age." Jack says

"Uh, thank you sir." Nathan says as he's flushed with the compliment, he tries hard not to light up with glee

"All right, you'll have plenty of time to talk to him later. Let the kid meet the others now." Reyes says as he quickly whispers something in Jack's ear to which Jack acknowledges. He then brings a slight nod and says to Nate "I have to cut it short for now but it's a pleasure to meet you Nathan; I hope to see more of you soon, now go on and meet the rest of the team." Jack says then leaves the room in some urgency. Reyes then says something to Winston to which he nods, and then leaves too

Nate nods in understanding and briefly glimpses both commanders leave the room.

Nathan turns around to see a white face with goggles, short spiky brown hair with matching eyes and a warm smile right close to his.

"Hello luv!" Tracer says as Nate jumps back due to being scared by her sudden appearance.

"Lena, do you have to scare all of them?" Winston says

"But Winston, its funnn" Tracer childishly says

Winston sighs and says "Nathan, this is Lena or better known as Tracer. Lena this is Nathan, he's our third and youngest intern." Nathan only shyly responds by waving hi. Tracer speeds and kneels close to him.

"Ohh, so this is the third one, funny I've never seen him around before….oh wait, I did. You were the boy that was walking down the hallway weeks ago!"

Nate only responds by nodding yes, but he was surprised that she remembered that short encounter. She then shakes his hand repeatedly

"Oh, sorry bout that luv, but it's finally nice to finally meet you, Winston has told me so much about you, in fact I remember being told how you could perfectly understand and explain how my chronal accelerator works. You could really give the big guy a run for his money there! Right, Winston?" Tracer says, and Winston rubs his head giving a chuckle.

"It's alright, Ms. Tracer and thanks" Nathan timidly says

"Aw, you don't need to call me miss luv; I'm only 20. Just call me Lena." Lena warmly says

"O-ok" Nate says.

"Lena, give the boy some space, I swear you're gonna smother him." Winston says.

"But he's looks so adorable, how old are you luv? I swear you look like you can't be more than 8! Winston, what's our age limit for the interns? Brigitte and Paolo are both 14; oh I hope it's not very young because I don't wanna put him into a sit…" Lena rambles until Nathan answers

"Uh, I'm 12 Ms. Lena" Nate says which stops Lena.

"12? Really?" Lena looks to Winston to see if she heard that wrong but Winston nods to confirm his answer but Lena is still in a small state of disbelief

"But you look too short and skinny for someone whose 12. No offense luv" Lena says, Nate needed to think quickly on this one.

"I'm a-a late bloomer I guess, a doctor said that I wouldn't enter a growth spurt until later in my teens." Nate said, hoping she would take it

"Oh, I guess that makes sense." Lena says

Winston then speaks up "Well, if it's all right with you two I need to step out or a bit and tend to something back at the lab very quickly, Lena how about you introduce Nathan to the others and get him acquainted with the rest of the team."

"Sure thing Luv, don't be long" Lena says as Winston leaves

"Come on luv, let's go meet the others" Lena says with a smile, Nathan nods yes, simply letting the rest of the day flow.

 _Later in the night_

Nathan walks on home after a day of actually meeting the team. When he left, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Warmth, he never realized how much compassion they showed towards him and his fellow interns, and how much conviction and passion they had, they wanted to make a difference in the world and help others in one way or another.

Meeting Tracer was not what he expected to be at first, but later one could he struck up a friendship with her, he truly was in awe at her optimism, her personality, her spirit She was someone who never leave anyone behind and actually cared about, as she puts it, everyone. He remembers what she said when she asked about Nate's scientific knowledge

 _"I don't know if it's worth showing Ms. Lena, I don't want to brag or anything."_

 _"Everyone has something worth showing luv; no one should be alone thinking that there're skills won't make a difference. It's a part of us, it makes us who we are, and how we're stronger cause of it."_

How could someone as young as Tracer say something so wise and inspiring? Maybe Lena would never know how something like that has already affected him, maybe there is a light at the end of the dark.

Mercy or Angela as she prefers to be called was everything he had expected to be and more. She was certainly the brilliant medical scientist and doctor who developed nanobiotics, but she was also sweet and caring, and motherly in a way. She was also encouraging, when Lena encouraged him to explain his understanding of her tech and the theory behind nanobiotics. He did so flawlessly and extensively, amazing Lena, Angela, and even the two interns who only understood half of what he was saying. He had to confess that he was eager to actually learn more about the properties of nanobiotics and work to advance them in front of Angela. Angela actually encouraged it, saying that he should never suppress such knowledge that could be used to improve the wellbeing of other people, and that if he ever wants to work with her on research, she more than happy too. She also said if there was ever anything wrong, she was more than happy to help him, seeing as she was also an expert in psychology.

Meeting McCree was, well, different. He certainly wasn't hostile, but it seems like his decision on whether or not McCree liked him depended on if Nate could get him to like him. It was awkward for a few seconds, but he actually managed to get his approval after identifying the gun and using a pun. For some odd reason, McCree actually liked that and responded by saying "You're ok, Kid" and ruffled his hair. Overall that was odd.

He never saw Genji, which he didn't bring up with the rest of the team.

Reinhardt, Nate is still trying to get his head around how someone as old as him have so much energy. At first he was intimidated by his large size and tall height, but he was very friendly. And he told old war stories from his days with the German Crusaders which everyone enjoyed, well all the interns and Tracer did, the rest just rolled their eyes since they heard it before.

Torbjorn, at first he seemed grumpy, but he actually turned out to be a pretty decent guy who actually praised Nate for his intelligence and said that he has potential that he only needs to harness.

He finally met the other two interns as well, Brigitte who turned out to be Torbjorn's eldest daughter and Paolo, who came from the favela in Rio and became an Intern to pursue a career in science and help his neighbors in the favela. They were actually very nice, Brigitte and Paolo had thought they would never meet their third co-worker and at the end of the day they became very good coworkers.

By the time everyone left, he actually smiled and felt like he wasn't in pain. Of course he had to make sure they didn't find out, everything could be taken away from him if they found out. But they could help him, wouldn't they?

As Nate came to the front door, he took a deep breath. He opened the door to see Henry standing in front of him. His face showed no emotion.

"Hello brat. Welcome home." Henry said

"Hello sir" Nate said unless he wished to anger him

"And where were you?"

"I was at work sir, at the Overwatch Headquarters."

"I see, and what did you do"

"I-I met the others sir, the actual team I mean."

"And did you tell them _anything_ " His voice turned dangerously low at the last word

"No sir, nothing at all. I swear"

" _Good_ , make sure you don't. Because then you'll be in trouble, and I will have to punish you again, do you want that?"

Nate furiously nods no, the fear has returned in him once more

"Good, we have an understanding" Henry then roughly grabs his neck putting just enough pressure to affect Nate breathing

"Don't think for a second, that they'll do anything, remember, they're just showing good mannerisms but they don't give a crap about you, or anything you do. You are nothing, absolutely nothing but a waste of shit. You should be grateful that you at least live because anyone else would've."

"Yes sir, I understand sir, I'm very grateful sir, very grateful." Nate says

"Good" Henry says then he punches Nate to the floor which makes the boy yelp in pain

"That's a warning just in case, if you ever disobey me or violate the rules in this house, I will make your pathetic existence a living hell. Do you hear me?" Henry says

Nate says nothing at first still dazed from the punch.

"I SAID DO YOU HEAR ME?" Henry yells

"Y—Yes sir" Nate painfully says while holding back tears as blood seeps down his head.

"Now get upstairs and go to bed, no dinner tonight." Henry says as Nate struggles to go to his room. He wipes the blood with his fingers, and heads on to bed. He struggles to keep the tears but they're already coming down like raindrops. Everything that seems to be good in his life and that man with all his hatred, cruelty, and contempt just knows how to rip it away. He wishes this could be over but he knows, in this moment of defiance it's shouldn't be true isn't it?

 **DONE! It took me awhile but I finally got this done. In the next chapter I promise you that there will be more interaction between Nate and the team, and Nate and the interns. Please Review and enjoy this chapter. Thanks!**


	4. Intermediary

**A/N: HEY EVERYONE! SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS, THINGS HAVE BEEN BUSY FOR, ASIDE FROM CLASSES AND STUDYING, I'VE BEEN DEVELOPING THE STORY FOR THE LIS/SPIDER-MAN CROSSOVER STORY AS WELL AS THE STORY FOR THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS OF "SUFFER IN SILENCE." I THANK ALL OF YOU FOR READING THIS AND YOU'LL BE HAPPY TO KNOW THAT I HAVE NOT ABANDONED THIS FIC; I JUST HAVEN'T HAD THE TIME TO WORK ON A NEW CHAPTER YET. IM GLAD MOST (IF NOT ALL) OF YOU GUYS LIKED IT. PLEASE KEEP REVIEWING THIS STORY BECAUSE I REALLY WANT THIS STORY TO BE A GOOD ONE AND HAVE IT COMPLETE. AS FOR THE LIS/SPIDER-MAN CROSSOVER STORY, DON'T EXPECT THE FIRST CHAPTER TO COME OUT ANYTIME SOON, IT'LL TAKE A WHILE. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, I FORGOT TO PUT ANA IN THE LAST CHAPTER, BUT SHE WILL BE IN THIS STORY.**

 **NOW ONTO THE MAIN STUFF, YOU'RE GOING TO READ WHAT I CALL AN INTERMEDIARY, A SECTION THAT LINKS TWO OR MORE CHAPTERS TOGETHER, IT'S NOT LONG AND I WON'T BE DOING THIS A LOT BUT HOPEFULLY IT KEEPS YOU OCCUPIED. ENJOY**

 _Shortly after chapter 2_

Lena and Winston was currently cleaning up from today's festivities, meaning Reinhardt got drunk so Angela had to get him out before he could start setting a "terrible" example for the kids or so she says and then the latter. The commanders had come back from whatever 'emergency' meeting they had with one of the politicians, and everyone continued to have fun. Then everyone started to go back to their quarters or their homes for the night. Lena and Winston decided to stay back and clean the place up before they called it a night.

"This was a really good idea Winston! We should do this more often luv" Lena said as she was cleaning the last of the plastic bottles

"I'm glad to hear it Lena, most of the others seem to agree as well." Winston said while gathering all the trash into a garbage bag.

"Of course they do! Why the bloody hell would they ever not, we all agreed on this entire program you've set up, none of us ever regretted it! Besides, the young ones are just a joy to have around here luv, it makes it less boring, especially with Emily not being here." Lena said as she finishes up her work.

"I'm glad to hear you've enjoyed it then! At least it didn't go to waste, especially with all the effort in trying to get this approved." Winston said, if Commander Morrison had the full reigns around here, it really wouldn't have taken so long for such a program like this to have taken off in the first place, but alas the scientist had to go through weeks of UN processing, evaluations, and even a small but slightly public hearing just to see this through, and at the end of it all, even he never thought it could happen especially with Overwatch's lately negative reputation with the public in the past few years. In the end, it was approved but he could have 3 interns under the tutelage of the organization, which he thought was unfair since he felt that more people should deserve a chance at this.

"Not to worry luv, when those bloody fools at the UN see the good work we've done with these kids, they surely have to let us have more around." Lena said optimistically

"Your optimism is always a welcome addition Lena." Winston said with a smile

"Aww, anytime Luv, but I got a question for you if you don't mind."

"I never mind, what is it?"

"Well….it's about that boy, Nathan" Lena said, her voice showing some concern

"What about Nathan? Don't tell me you don't like him already, you seem to get along with quite well."

"Don't get me wrong, he's a smart kid for his age, and he's just this small innocent looking child that you wanna snuggle with, trust me I feel like Angie was about to do that when she first saw him."

"But…" Winston said

"But…he's too….what's the word….quiet" Lena said as she thought of a non offensive way to describe the young boy she just met

"Oh that, it just because he's a bit shy, he really is an intelligent young man, but he works by himself or with me only, I'm hoping after today he could open up a bit more to the others. If he's been silent for most of the time, I believe its because he's intimidated by the presence of the rest of the team, give him a while and he'll be fine with being around you guys." Winston

"Its not just that, I mean he's silent, like he's really scared of something, plus he's awfully small for a 12 year old, I mean sure some kids grow a lot later but, he's also really skinny, I held his arm and I was sure I could feel his bone or something and I noticed he was sort holding back a reaction, like it hurt him or something. " Lena said with a small amount of worry

Winston thought about it, "You do have a point, now that I think about it. He is awfully skinny when I first met him, and his behavior is quite silent for his age. I'll tell you what, I can check after him tomorrow when he comes in and you can talk to him when he's free during his break, if everything is fine and he's just probably not eating enough, we'll just encourage him to have a fuller diet."

"And if something's wrong?" Lena said

"Then, I will bring this to commander, you can take him to Angela to get him checked out, and I will bring up his file and his application to see where he lives and we'll see what we can do."

"Sounds like a plan luv." Lena said approvingly

"I still don't think anything is really wrong though, he's just needs to adjust, that's all. He's still new here."

"Yes, but I got about him, I just need to make sure its all right that's all." Lena said

"Heh heh, Ana would be proud" Winston said with a chuckle

"You know she would, speaking of which when's she coming back?" Lena asked, it's been a while since the second-in command at Overwatch had left for her mission

"Last time I heard, her mission ended a day ago, she should be coming back in 3 days from South Africa."

"Ooo wait, till she meets them, she'll be the grandma of the entire family." Lena said playfully

"She already is if you think about in that context"

And so the two comrades continued their conversation like this for the rest of the night.


	5. Author's Note on Chapter 3

**AUTHORS NOTE: HEY GUYS, THIS IS HEADS UP ABOUT THE 3** **RD** **CHAPTER, I'M STILL WRITING IT BUT DUE TO STUDYING THESE PAST FEW WEEKS I'VE BEEN SIDELINED AND HAVEN'T GOTTEN AROUND TO IT, BUT RIGHT NOW I'M WORKING ON IT AND I'M GOING TO TRY AND RELEASE IT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE THANK YOU!**


	6. Chapter 3

**A/N: HI GUYS, ITS ME AGAIN, SORRY I HAVEN'T UPDATED IN A WHILE, I'VE BEEN BUSY WITH REALITY LATELY AND HAVEN'T HAD THE TIME NOR THE ENERGY TO WORK ON ANY CHAPTER. BUT NOT TO WORRY HERE IT IS, I'M NOT ABANDONING THIS PROJECT AND THE OTHERS ANYTIME SOON, SO ENJOY THE NEW CHAPTER AND PLEASE KEEP IT UP WITH THE REVIEWS, I'D LOVE YOUR HONEST FEEDBACK AND IF THERES ANYTHING I CAN DO TO IMPROVE THE STORY PLEASE TELL ME SO I CAN HAVE MORE TO THINK ABOUT. ALSO ANOTHER UPDATE ON THE LIS/SPIDEY FIC, IT'S STILL IN MY PERSONAL DRAFTING PHASE, IM PLANNING ON REWRITING SOME STUFF TO IMPROVE THE FLOW AND THE PLOT.**

 **ALSO NOW THAT WE KNOW TRACER HAS BECOME CONCERNED WITH NATHAN, WE WILL SOON START TO SEE THE REALITY OF THE ABUSE HE'S BEEN THROUGH IN THE UPCOMING CHAPTERS. ENJOY**

 **A/N #2: Due to Brigitte's announcement as Hero 27 in OVERWATCH, and some new facts about her coming to light from Blizzard, I'm retconning her to being Torbjorn's eldest daughter to his youngest since she will be a present character in this story.**

 _ **FLASHBACK**_

 _The Principal called him in after 4_ _th_ _period to her office for some reason, Nate was sitting down in the waiting thinking about what did he do to go the principal's office._

 _His mind kept filtering the possible reasons why he was here and what did he do, maybe it something good he did or perhaps they figured out the fire alarm incident. And then he saw two figures outside the door through the window, they wore blue uniforms showed badges. Nate knew they were police, and Nate was smart enough to know that something was up, something bad. If he wasn't able to tell because using brains, he would've figured it out because of the increasing warmth in his chest that gave it away. The two officers were talking to the principal, the dialogue seemed to be short, and the principal responded pointing her finger at the door, specifically to him._

 _This was not good, Nate knew that, something happened, something involving him, and he silently prayed that it didn't have anything to do with him. The two police officers opened the door and came inside, one was an omnic and the other was a human man, the man's face had an expression of concern and nothing stern, he assumed the omnic expressed the same._

 _"Hi, you're Nathan right?" the human said_

 _"Yeah, why are you both here?" Nathan softly said, going straight to the point, he didn't want the suspense._

 _"I'm officer Chambers and this is officer Pierson. We came here to tell you something." The human officer said after introducing himself and his omnic partner._

 _"What is it? What happened?" Nate said, he mentally begged for this to be a prank but deep inside this was serious._

 _The two officers looked at each other briefly, wondering how they should break the news here. The omnic sighed, which meant that he would be the one thatk but deep inside this was serious._

 _The two officers looked at each other briefly, wondering how they should break the news here. The omnic sighed, which meant that he would be the one that would have to break the news._

 _"I'm sorry kid; I wish there another way to break this news to you…."_

 _He paused, trying to find the words to use_

 _"It's your parents son, they were in a car accident, they….they didn't make it."_

 _Nate's thinking stopped, his heart felt like it decided to stop beating from what was just said, his parents gone, his mom and dad who were about to divorce, died in the middle of a road. He was prepared to live with divorced parents, but now they would never even live. Then came the pain, the pain of losing two of some of the very people that ever loved him. Nate shuts down entirely in response, his tears start pouring down, and while he doesn't cry out in sorrow, it doesn't mean he didn't break._

* * *

Present Day

Two days had passed since the gathering the team had at HQ. The team had left for a mission and probably wouldn't be back until later this evening; in the meantime, Winston had left them a small project that required Nate, Brigitte, and Paolo to work together.

As they worked together, Nate got to better know his own co-workers a little bit more; Brigitte was Torbjorn's youngest daughter and she wanted to be an engineer like her dad, but she wanted to make armor as an engineer more than making weapons. She told the two as they worked how she made armor for her pet cat, how she would always spend her free time in her father's workshop if she had nothing else to do and how she wished to be like her dad and help others.

Paolo told his story next, he grew up in the favelas in Brazil and if he wasn't playing football with his friends, he would be studying in school and bringing home good grades, unlike Brigitte whose interest was in engineering, Paolo wanted to be a doctor and learn surgery, practical medicine, and nanobiotics and that he was inspired to do so after Dr. Ziegler had once appeared with Overwatch during a Null Sector attack and healed many injured quickly using her Caduceus, he didn't meet her directly but was nevertheless inspired by her acts of compassion and miraculous healing that convinced him to pursue medicine.

Nathan listened to these stories closely; he respected and admired their goals and how they genuinely wanted to help people.

"Nathan, now's your turn, what made you want to come here?" Brigitte asked as their attention fell to the young boy of 12. Nathan didn't know how to begin until he just spoke.

"I'm from New York, I grew up in Queens, my dad was an accountant and my mom was a nurse. In school, I was pretty smart, more smart than most of the kids I guess, only because my mom taught me more stuff after school and I just applied that knowledge. The teachers soon realized that and they talked to my parents, they suggested a lot of things liked advanced schools or early college classes but that didn't really sit well with mom and dad so they took me out of school and homeschooled me for a few years. She taught me a lot about science and biology, which I really liked to learn. Then one day I asked her why she became a nurse when she had a master's degree in biology, she told me that she wanted to help people directly when they felt like everything else had come to an end, because that's one of the ways the world can become brighter. To her patients she was their hero. So I felt like I should do the same thing too, I want to be a scientist so that I could help give back the world to the people that need it." Nathan said, surprisingly without stuttering in front of others.

"That is great dream Nathan! You should never stop pursuing your dream, no matter who stands in your way." Brigitte said.

"Yeah little bro, that's awesome, heck you should actually join Overwatch one day! People would love to see someone like you on Overwatch." Paolo said, his and Brigitte's respect for the youngest intern had grown along with their friendship.

"Thanks guys, I mean it." Nathan says, his heart felt warm hearing those words, words of kindness and encouragement. But at the same time he felt ashamed, ashamed that he had to cover up the most selfish reason why he joined, what he said about his early life was true, but he joined Overwatch's intern program to escape. He wanted be free from Henry's cruelty, he wanted to be free from the pain and the nightmares and the reminders of how much he was worthless to everyone.

"Yeah man, your parents must be proud of you for how much you've already achieved." Paolo said, causing Nathan to freeze up a little bit but not enough to appear stiff.

"Yeah, obviously" Nathan replies

"You live with them here right? I know it's not my business to ask but since you don't sleep in the intern's quarters like me or Brigitte, then you live in town nearby right?" Paolo asks

Now Paolo was crossing territory that Nathan didn't want crossed, he realized they didn't that his parents are dead, they didn't know that his 'foster father' was an abusive man who constantly made him feel and look pathetic. But this was his moment, he could tell them. He could tell the whole truth, then they would tell the team and then he would be taken away from that awful house. He wouldn't have to worry about bruises, bleeding, nightmares, nothing. He just needed to say it and he said

"No my parents don't live with me in Switzerland. They're back in New York; I'm staying with a legal guardian who's keeping an eye on me." Another half-truth and an opportunity were wasted. Maybe he was pathetic, he thought to himself.

"Oh ok, like I said, I didn't mean to pry" Paolo said

"It's alright, besides your parents must be proud too right?" Nathan asked, trying to flip the subject

"Yeah, they are. Though I do wonder what they're doing back home though." Paolo said

"Boys, while I like this conversation can we get back to finishing this?" Brigitte said

"Right, ok so the inhibitor should be installed before the cooler so that we could generate more power and amplify efficiency without over clocking on the CPU…." Nathan said as they continued working on the project.

* * *

 **MEANWHILE**

The dropship landed on one of the helipads connected to HQ, it slowly descended from its flights as the engines slowly silenced themselves to a complete stop. The doors opened and out came the team consisting of Morrison, Tracer, Dr. Ziegler, Winston, Torbjorn, and Reinhardt. All felt exhausted; they recently just fought against Talon after several agents tried to execute a terrorist attack against a well-known omnic-human equality activist in Canada. They identified Talon's bomber and prevented him from planting the bomb however, they didn't realize until it was too late that he called in reinforcements to finish the job, and that's how a peaceful demonstration in downtown Toronto became a battleground between Overwatch and Talon. There were injuries but thankfully no civilian casualties thanks to Dr. Ziegler's efforts, and the activist was uninjured having been retrieved by Morrison before any harm could come to him. That left Tracer, Reinhardt, Torbjorn, and Winston to deal with the Talon operatives which they did.

However, despite the mission going well, that's where politics gives everyone a headache as some people and some politicians are blaming Overwatch for the attack in Toronto despite gratitude from the activist and the pro ominc-human relations supporters as well as the general public. But for the team, this was one thing they can just tune out and spend the rest of the day in peace.

An exhausted Morrison keeps himself firm as he addresses his comrades.

"Excellent work team, Your reports are due in 0100 hours so I expect them on my desk. Oxton, good job out there, you'll make it yet kid." Morrison said

"Yes sir! Thank you sir!" Tracer said enthusiastically

"That'll be all, dismissed." And the team prepares to head inside HQ to prepare their reports. Winston proceeds to walk with Tracer and converse about their other concern.

"Well did you check up him luv?" Tracer asked

Winston replied "A little bit, I didn't have enough time before I left for the mission but I was able to check up on him, he seemed normal enough, nothing in his body language or in his voice that signified anything alerting."

"Still, I have a feeling about him. Should I go then and talk to him." Tracer asked

"Go on ahead. The three of them should be in one of the labs working on a little project I left them with while we were gone, you can find him there. Oh, and tell them that they're done for the day and that they can continue on the project tomorrow morning since I'll be in my lab making my report." Winston said

"Gee thanks luv, see ya later then!" Tracer said as she waved goodbye and blinked away

Lena Oxton a.k.a Tracer dashed through the hallways of HQ, looking for the young kid that she met two days ago. She had to admit, she took a liking to Nathan, and although she would show concern for anyone that seemed hurt, there something about him was just hidden from everyone else. Something that made her stomach churn ever since she met him. Just what was it though?

She made her to the labs and started look for the three, eventually she found them inside the lab to her left. She opened the door a little bit and heard a bit of their conversation.

"And that's how you're able to make it more efficient" Paolo said

"But we can't do that because the wattage distribution would be uneven" Brigitte pointed out

"Well we could be able to use the 2 exterior electrical fans to generate the electricity necessary in order to activate the main fusion source." Nathan said

Tracer was not big on science unlike Torbjorn, Winston, and Angie. So whatever they were saying was just hard to understand. Nevertheless she cleared her throat which grabbed their attention.

They then saw her and Brigitte put on a big smile and said "Lena!" and got up and gave her a hug faster than the two boys can blink.

Lena responded by giving it back, "'ello Brigitte, what have been up to?"

"A project Winston left for us; he wants us to figure out how to make a small fusion battery work, so far we almost done putting together all the pieces, it's like a puzzle." Brigitte said

"That's some puzzle." Lena said

"Yup"

"Well Winston told me to dismiss you guys, he says you can finish the project tomorrow in the morning. So you can go back to your quarters for the rest of the day." Lena said as both Brigitte and Paolo gave sighs of relief. However, Nathan had a face of fear for a moment but reverted back to relief, but Lena caught that expression. This only makes her even more suspicious.

As both teenager head out to relax for the rest of the day, Nathan begins to walk out before Lena stops him.

"Actually Nathan, do you mind staying with me for a bit?" Lena asked in a friendly manner

Nathan didn't know what was she trying to do but he meekly said "Ok, sure. What's it about?"

"Oh nothing luv, I just wanna get to know you a bit more, I already know both Paolo and Brigitte, but seeing as we didn't actually talk until two days ago I feel like I've been ignoring you." Lena said with a smile

"Uh, ok." Nathan could only say

Lena decided he would take Nathan outside a bit to a place she came to love since coming to Switzerland, it was this bridge with this nice river and it would always have trees, and flowers growing on the side. It comforted her a little bit and she often wished she could bring Emily, her girlfriend with her.

"I love this place, whenever I have a lot on my mind I just come here to just relax and enjoy the sights and the ducks 'giggles.' I wish I could bring my girlfriend here so I could just show her beautiful things like this." Lena said

"Your girlfriend?" Nathan asked, he knew something about relationships and same sex relationships but he never thought Tracer was in one.

"Yup, her name is Emily and she's just the most mesmerizing and amazing girl you could ever meet, she just has this great smile and beautiful red hair and these cute little freckles on her face. She is the one of the very people who was there for me when I thought I didn't need it." Lena said as her expression became somber for a bit before lightening up into her cheerful expression.

"She must be really special to you. Miss Tracer." Nathan could only say

"Just call me Lena luv, and yeah she is. But that's enough bout little ol' me. What about you luv, where are you from?" Lena asks

Here comes this question again "Uh, N-new York City Lena. I grew up in Queens."

"Really? I've never been to Queens, what's it like?" Lena asks, trying to slowly get closer to confirm her suspicions

"It's alright; I guess it's like the rest of New York except the buildings aren't as tall. But there were playgrounds, parks, and a bunch of places to go to." Nathan said

"Like what?"

"Like Zoos, Museums, and Aquariums" Nathan elaborated

"Seems to me you prefer going to these places, luv" Lena said

Nathan nodded yes, he was slowly getting comfortable with her and Lena could tell.

"My parents and I would always visit them and look at the exhibits or the animals. I always liked reading about the different features, bones, and traits of animals; it's what I liked about science." Nathan said while he reminisced about the happy times he once had.

"I guess they must be really proud of you." Lena said causing Nathan to look up at the young woman in slight confusion

"Your parents I mean, they have to be massively proud that you have the chance to work with us at such a young age." Lena said

"Yeah, they are." Or at least would've been if they lived to see it happen Nathan thought to himself

"Speaking of which, do they live here with you? I don't mean to pry luv, but do they live here Switzerland while you're here?" Lena asked

Nathan got a little nervous, like Paolo Lena was getting too close for comfort. Should he tell her, no she wouldn't believe it for a second.

"No, they don't, they still live in New York but a legal guardian is watching me for the time that I'm here." Nathan was quick to say

"Really, like a relative or a family friend….oh look at the time! It's getting awfully late for you luv! I should get you home so you're not late tomorrow." Lena said as she looked at her watch

Nathan instantly responded, if she found out everything would come crashing down. "No, um it's alright actually my house isn't that far from the bridge, it's actually just a couple minutes away." More like about 30 minutes most likely.

"Are you sure luv, it's really no trouble…" Lena said, it was about to get dark soon and she didn't want Nate to be alone.

"I'll be fine, thanks anyway Lena." Nathan said before leaving to go home

"Oh well goodnight then Nate, see you tomorrow!" Lena waved cheerfully

"Bye" Nathan waved back as he continued on his way home.

There was a blast of wind soon after, it was strong enough to push against the clothing on Nate as he walked, as it blasted, a bit of his shirt lifted up for a split second which allowed Lena to notice some small discoloration on his back. This raised her eyebrow but this only confirmed that not everything was what it seemed. She then dashed away using her chronal accelerator in order to give Winston this new discovery

* * *

Meanwhile, Nathan walked back to his house thinking about what happened today. He met with two close calls this morning, but thankfully no one found out and he likes to keep it that way.

He opens the door quietly, he's later than he should be and if Henry sees him late then he's in big trouble. Hopefully, by this time Henry should be passed out on the couch. As he walks in, he is careful not to make excessive noise, he hopes to just remain this way until he reaches his room.

As he does so however, he hears the TV on but there's no Henry. What happens next is that smells a bit of alcohol and next thing he knows he is someone has grabbed his head and thrown him across the hallway. It was Henry, angry and drunk. And Nate knows, a drunken Henry is even worse.

"Welcome home, you worthless shit, you want to explain why you're late." Henry slurs but he still maintains the edge in his voice.

"O-one of the team members s-s-sir, she took me out to talk to me a little b-bit" Nathan spurted out

"And why?" The smell of alcohol reaches Nathan and repulses him.

"T-t-to make conversation s-s-sir." Nathan says

"Make conversation, you?" Henry laughs "Please, spare me your bullshit, you think you can just defy ME! YOU THINK YOU RUN THIS PLACE?" Henry yells, his anger amplified by the bottle of whiskey he drank earlier

"N-no sir, I don't sir, please sir I swear I'm telling you the truth!" Nathan says in fear.

Henry responds by kicking him in the face, causing his nose to bleed and for Nathan to cry out in pain.

"Shut your little worthless mouth up, I don't care what you say, you broke my rules AGAIN! You're gonna pay! Come here!" Henry yells as he grabs Nathan by the hair and drags him up to his room with Nathan crying out to stop.

Henry ignores him and drags Nathan to his room. He then throws him to the floor and begins to stomp and kick him in various parts of his body. Nathan cries in pain but he cannot bring himself to move. He can feel Henry's boot graining against his body, the pain is unbearable but he can't do anything but cry.

"You weak, pathetic, sniveling piece of trash, you can't even take a simple amount of discipline!" Henry yells out

"P-p-lease n-no more! I promise I'll behave, just stop please!" Nathan begs

Henry does stop much to Nathan's surprise, but then the look on his face meant something worse was coming.

"You promise huh? Just like you the other times? Oh no no no, it's obvious that I can't believe a single thing you say you lying shit. So instead rinsing and repeating, you should get what you deserve!" Henry then takes out a small pocket knife and then harshly grabs Nathan's fragile wrist, Nathan cries out in pain but then starts to feel the burn of the sharp metal blade against his wrist. Henry makes three thin but equally painful gashes on Nathan's wrist. Blood starts to seep through and Henry leaves to go to the bathroom, leaving Nathan to grab his wrist in pain and sobs at what Henry did.

Henry then returns and harshly pours peroxide onto the cuts, causing Nathan to be in agony at the burn, and then Henry takes bandages and puts it around the wrist. While Nathan remains in tears.

Henry finishes and then harshly grabs Nathan's hair and says "Just so we're clear, these will scar, these will remind of you that If you ever disrespect me in my house or break my rules. I will end you. Is that clear?" Henry is still drunk but the anger, the maliciousness, and the cruelty is still present. Nathan knows he's gone too far, but at the same time he's too terrified of what happens if he disobeys him.

Nathan can only nod yes, it's the only thing he can do. Henry lets go of him and leaves Nathan to cry alone, but he says one more thing "Also, to add to your punishment, you won't be eating anything for the next two days. If you even try to grab a little breadcrumb, I will make you regret it." Henry then slams the door, leaving a broken, beaten, and now a scarred little boy crying for the love of parents that left him and for someone to save him from this hell.

END

 **That's it for this chapter, I can say that Karma will come after Henry soon and that when the team finds out he will realized that he messed with the wrong kid. But yeah that's the end of Chapter 3. I want to thank you guys for waiting so long for this chapter and I promise that this story will end properly with no loose ends whatsoever. Every character will interact with Nathan in one way or another. Also, the next chapter will see the Tracer and Winston put the pieces together.**

 **Also here's a preview of what's to come.**

"Are you alright luv, you don't look too good"

"How long has this been happening!"

"Listen if word gets out, then we have a lot to handle from the public and the UN."

 **Again, I hope you enjoy this chapter and please review. I promise that Henry will get what's coming to him and Nathan will begin to heal. Thank you and enjoy.**


	7. Chapter 4 prelude (A letter to Nathan)

Prelude to Chapter 4

 _When I was a boy, my mother died. I can't remember how she did, but I knew for certain that she was my shield from father. Father was so complicated, sometimes he was just so sad and would be quiet. Then, at other times he would be cruel, angry, and drunk. Every day I was scared for my life, every day I just wanted to be anywhere else except home. Why? Because I hated my house, I hated my father. I would get so mad when he called me a failure, a useless invalid, the killer of my mother. I would feel the rage every time he dragged me upstairs for another beating. When the rage left me, that's when I would get so lonely and empty. I felt so stuck kid, I felt like I couldn't run anywhere._

 _Then one day, I met someone in high school, her name was Jane. She surprised me in ways I couldn't believe. This was the type of girl who had the looks, the brains, and the personality. Most importantly, she'd be kind to everyone no matter if they were omnic or human. Why do I say this? Because when I met her, I was just a ghost. I would be the person to isolate myself in more ways than one. No one would notice or acknowledge me and that was fine. I didn't even want to acknowledge my own reality. Then one day, I drop a book of mine and she comes straight up to me and gives it back to me and then continues to start a full conversation. The feeling it gave me was something remarkable. It felt like my soul was becoming warm again. As days became months, that conversation led to us talking more. By the end of sophomore year, we pretty much became best friends. Despite what others thought, I never fell in love with her. But her compassion and her support helped me become more whole. I felt like I could just move forward._

 _I never told her about how my father kept treating me, and I didn't want to. I had no one else so close to me in my life. If anyone found out, I would be taken away from the one thing that gave me a reason to keep on going. I would take all the pain that he dealt on me if it meant I could smile with her._

 _When we graduated high school, we both went on to college in different states. She wanted to study science and I wanted to go into business. We kept in contact and we would see each other back home during vacations. However, as the years went on, we slowly became to immersed into our work and our careers. But I never forgot her example of compassion and kindness. Jane made me a better man and made me want to embrace the world. I took that with me as I developed my career, traveled, etc. For the first time I was truly happy._

 _However, the relationship with my father was always a painful void. As time went on, I kept talking less to him. Whatever relationship we had, no matter how violent it was, slowly vanished. When I graduated from grad school, that was the last time I saw him. It basically ended with him saying that I was nothing but a spineless pathetic being who he should've starved in the crib._

 _Those words brought back the rage and frustration. For the first time, I said to him that he was nothing but a hopeless drunken fool who is so pathetic that he would take out his misfortune on a child. That he would be nothing. The next thing I knew is that the fuel finally blew up between us as father and son finally traded blows. Everything during that was a blur but I recall breaking his nose while he gave me a bloody lip. Either way, the fight ended with me leaving with the last of my stuff in the car and driving away in very bitter mood and my father cursing me out._

 _As the years went on, I developed my career and lived a normal life, I was content with who I was and was happy. Then one day, I got a call from the hospital. My father had a heart attack and didn't have much time. Part of me wanted to not go back and let him die alone. But then I thought about Jane and what she would've done. I knew if I wanted to put this behind me, I had to go see him._

 _When I did, the man laying in the bed in front of me was a far cry from the cruel raged filled drunkard. He was pale, and the look on his face was one of remorse and regret. We talked in what was our last conversation. He apologized for all the cruelty, for the violence. But the last thing he said before he passed, was that he was the one who killed my mother. They were fighting and when mom said she was leaving. In a moment of rage, he hit her, and her head hit the counter. In that moment, I never felt so much shock, so much pain to the truth._

 _I told him that I forgave him for everything before he died. But the truth was, my hate for that man was intensified and heavily internalized. As the days went on, I tried to let go of that hate, but every memory of that man just reconciled itself with the death of my mother. It felt so skewed, but it made so much sense. I would go on to hate him forever for the sick lies and cruelty. I thought I could let it go in time, but I was wrong._

 _Two years later, I was living in New York City when I saw the news that day. It was a car accident in Queens where a husband and wife died. What shocked me, however, was when they revealed the identity of the victims. The woman that died in the car was Jane. The same woman that I was best friends with so long ago. I learned from a colleague's wife who was a social worker that they had a young son left behind. I asked what would happen to him, only to discover that he would be in foster care._

 _After the phone call, I took a couple minutes to let everything sink in. Even though I hadn't seen her in years, to know how her life ended broke my heart. I never even got to see her again, to thank her for helping me all those years ago. But then I knew, that even though I didn't have any children. I could help her son in the same way she helped me. At least that was the idea._

 _It took a while, but after a lot of paperwork and some convincing. I managed to become a foster father to this young boy. When I met him for the first time, I saw that he looked like whoever the father was, but his eyes and character took after his mother. We talked for a while; I didn't tell him that I was friends was his mother, but I managed to give him a first good impression of me._

 _Eventually, I took him in and for some time, things were good. I saw how the kid loved science like his mother did. He liked talking about her, and while I acted as if I didn't know about her, truth be told I keep feeling as if I failed her by not being there. But I kept promising to myself that I would do right by her in memory and do right by her son._

 _Some years later, the boy was 11, and we moved to Switzerland. I got a job there working as a department head at one of the branches of the company I worked for. We got a nice house in the area and it wasn't too far from my job. It also hadn't happened to be too far from Overwatch's Zurich headquarters. I found out later on that they were actually launching a youth internship program that was said to help accelerate develop interest and skill in scientific and technological fields. The boy seemed to be interested so I encouraged him apply. I told him that he shouldn't hold his dreams back for any reason. That was probably the last good thing I did for him._

 _I don't know what caused me to start doing what I did. All I know is that as time slowly went. The anger, the rage, and everything that was pent up inside of me never left. I never talked to anyone about it. I never sought therapy. I never got counseling. Jane's death always plagued me and the more I saw her son's face, I kept seeing her. I knew it felt so shallow, so unrealistic. But it was true, and I kept disappointing myself more and more when I see that in other ways her son was so different from Jane._

 _In my head, I kept trying to rationalize everything, trying to explain to myself that the boy was different and that he is his own individual. But some twisted part of my head, the part that hated and was angry kept seeping in and I came to some twisted conclusion. One day, I came home from work and the boy was happy, he got the internship and, on his birthday as well. They said they he would learn with a small group of students from the person in charge of the program. He was so glad, and I was happy for him. It was enough to let me push all that was bad back. We celebrated with some cake and things were alright, then later when washing the dishes. He accidently slipped onto the dish rack and broke a bunch of plates._

 _He tried apologizing but something in me just broke out, and instead of hearing the voice of the boy, I heard my father instead. I wanted to breathe but the memories all came back. Then…. then I hurt him. I just kept hurting him. I became a radically different person. I hurt him, I yelled at him, and I embraced the power, the violence. That night, things were deathly silent. I had never wanted to puke at what I had done. To a little boy no less! I wanted to apologize profusely, I wanted to make it up to him or send him away from me as far as I could. But the morning came, and I couldn't. My head kept telling me that this was who I was now, and that he's the one in the wrong._

 _The months go on and suddenly I am my father all over again. Outside I pretend to be a pleasant person. I act like nothing happened. But at home, I drink, I fly into a rage, I hurt him, I use violence on him, and I blame it all on him. That he is nothing of worth. Then when its all over, I go to my bed and I stare the ceiling all day long horrified at the monster I've become. I asked myself if this is what my father did. Is that why he apologized and told me the truth. How vile and monstrous could I be. I don't want to be this person, I don't._

 _I hate myself. I really do, I thought I could escape all of this, I thought I could be good. But instead I let history repeat itself. Jane would really damn me if she was here today. In the moment I'm writing this, it's my way of saying to myself "STOP!" It's my way of preventing anyone else from being hurt._

 _Nathan, if you find this letter and you read it fully. I don't want you to forgive me, I just want you to understand everything that happened. I wanted to tell you the truth. I'm so sorry. I should never have done what I did to you. I was a monster to you, taking you in only to become a demented demon. I just want to say one more thing to you. Its not an insult, you're not worthless. But please don't let this define you, please grow up to do great things and not let yourself lose your own humanity, don't give in to the pain. Don't give in to the hate. I can only hope God forgives me even though I deserve none. You'll be interning now by the time I'm done with this letter; I only hope you can open up to them._

 _Sincerely, Henry_

Henry finishes the letter and puts it on the dining table. He writes on the envelope "For Nathan Beckett" and inserts the letter in. He rises from his chair and proceeds to go the living room. From there he opens a drawer to take a small pistol and loads it with one bullet. Taking to his temple, he breathes slowly, and his last thoughts were that of regret, but to him it was the only to stop himself. The sounds of a bang slowly disappear, the darkness comes to surround him as his last thought is that he hoped the cycle stops for good.

 **A/N: Hello everyone I have returned. I'm sorry to have vanished for so very long but a lot has happened and it has kept me busy ever since. In the meantime, I've gained some new skills that has helped me write better and develop better characters and stories. Where do I begin, I've been reading the reviews repeatedly, I understand that not everything was crystal clear and some of it was just plain awkward. I hope to start refining this story by introducing it from a viewpoint that I didn't expect myself to write. Henry. Henry is Nathan's foster father and is very abusive to him. At least that's the premise of his character. But is he just a character is one dimensionally an antagonist to Nathan, I didn't realize that at first but some of you did which I thank you entirely. Looking back at the previous chapters. I understand that something had to have affected Henry that led to him being who he is to Nathan. So, I thought about and that is what led to this chapter. Secondly, I will be writing with a new approach now, I used to just write on the fly with things coming and going in an instant. Now I'm taking things from a more thoughtful perspective and think about what elements do I want to tie in together. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and I hope to start planning chapter 4 very soon. Thank you; it feels good to be back.**


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